The present invention relates to a roof construction for a motor vehicle having a forward roof part, a rearward roof part including C-columns and provided with a rear window, and having an adjusting device moving the two roof parts between lowered inoperative and closed operative positions. The adjusting device has a main hinge pin about which at least the rearward roof part can be swung.
A roof construction of this type is described in German Patent Document P 196 34 510.3. This roof construction, however, is disadvantageous in that the rear window has to be made relatively steep and in that a relatively large trunk volume is still required by the roof construction in its deposited condition despite the fact that the C-columns are moved to the front.
European Patent Document EP 0 482 681 B1 describes a roof having forward and rearward roof parts which are connected with one another by a hinge. The forward roof shell or the forward roof part is pushed into the rearward roof shell for depositing the roof. This means that the forward roof part, as a whole, must be narrower than the rearward roof part, which limits the shape and design of the roof construction.
The general state of the art is also apparent by reference to German Patent Documents DE-PS 917 050 and DE-PS 953 229.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a roof construction of the initially mentioned type which, by means of a simple adjusting device, can be deposited in the trunk space of the motor vehicle while saving as much space as possible.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by connecting the rear window by way of a drag bearing axis in a hinged manner with the C-columns. A drag lever is laterally linked at one end to the rear window. The other end of the drag lever is disposed on the vehicle body side in a hinge axle. The hinge axle of the drag lever is situated at a distance from the main hinge pin.
Since the rear window is connected with the C-columns in a hinged manner, the roof construction and the C-columns can be deposited separately when the roof construction is deposited. In this case, as a result of a drag lever according to the invention and the position of this drag lever, a turning-in movement of the rear window takes place during a roof lowering phase in which the roof is lowered into the hollow space between the C-columns and the forward roof part. In particular, if the forward roof part is constructed as a hardtop, then a clear enlargement of the useful trunk space volume takes place in this manner when the roof construction is deposited because the space below the deposited forward roof portion, which previously was lost, is better utilized.
The positions of the drag lever hinges, and particularly the position of the drag lever with respect to the main hinge pin, determine the extent by which the rear window is swivelled with respect to the C-columns during the lowering movement and arrives in the free space under the forward roof part. Because the hinge axle of the drag lever is spaced in front of the main hinge pin in the driving direction, when the roof is lowered, a relative movement of the drag lever occurs with respect to the C-columns.
Viewed as a whole, the adjusting device has a relatively simple construction and permits a simple operating mechanism.
Although a roof construction according to the invention is particularly suitable for hardtop constructions, it can also be used for softtops which have a firm rear window and which, as a result of the type of construction, have a hollow space between the deposited roof parts which cannot be utilized.